Amos Edwards (born 13 December 1960)Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton (2004) ''The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn'',

Rough Guides Rough Guides Ltd is a British travel guide book and reference publisher, which has been owned by APA Publications since November 2017. In addition to publishing guidebooks, the company also provides a tailor-made trips service based on customer ...

, , p. 284.David V. Moskowitz (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: An Encyclopedia of Reggae,Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall'', Greenwood Press, , p. 120. better known by his stage name General Trees, is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Ro ...

deejay A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobil ...

who was considered one of the most popular deejays of the 1980s, best known for his hits in the latter half of the decade.

Biography

Born in Drews Land,

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, on December 13, 1960, General Trees is widely regarded as the best Jamaican speed rapper of his era, the "fast style" of delivery commonly accepted as arriving in Jamaica from the UK, through London-born Phillip Papa Levi.Colin Larkin ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Muze Ltd In his early years after working as a shoemaker in his father's shop, he first found fame as a sound system star, working on Maurice Johnson's ''

Black Scorpio Black Scorpio is a Jamaican sound system and record label run by Maurice "Jack Scorpio" Johnson. History Johnson had started to operate a single turntable and speaker sound system in 1968 and started the Special I sound system in 1972, changing ...

'' system, which he had followed since the 1970s, his brother having preceded him as a deejay on the system.Lesser, Beth (2008) ''Dancehall: The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture'', Soul Jazz, , p. 81. His name was given to him by Barry G, who thought he sounded like "a General with three voices in one".Krista Henry (2007)
GLORY DAYS: General Trees pulls music from the deck
, ''

Jamaica Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. Originally called the ''Daily Gleaner'', the name was changed on 7 December 1992 to '' ...

'', 9 September 2007, His fellow deejay Lord Sassafrass was known as "The Horseman", with the Black Scorpio system also known as the "Horseman" sound system, and when Trees joined he was known as "the younger horseman" and dressed as a jockey to perform. When Johnson opened his own studio, also named Black Scorpio, he began producing recordings, including those by artists that had performed with his sound system, including Trees and Lord Sassafrass. General Trees' had a string of hits followed, including "Heel And Toe", "Monkey And Ape", "Ghost Rider", and "Crucifixion", although his best-remembered song is "Mini Bus", which lamented the demise of the "jolly bus",Mel Cooke (2008)
General Trees makes, marks history with 'Minibus'
, ''

'', 23 November 2008. and which was awarded the title "Song Of The Year" in 1986 from the

Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation The Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) was a public broadcasting company in Jamaica founded in 1959 by premier Norman Manley with the aim of emulating the success of other national broadcasting companies such as the BBC and CBC.Thomas, Pradi ...

. The award raised his profile and he went on to record for a variety of producers in Jamaica. Further hits followed with "Gone A Negril" (#2 in 1986) and "Calling All Higglers", and he contributed to a "clash" album, ''Battle Of The Generals'', that featured versions of "Lambada" and "Think Twice". Trees also recorded combination hits including "Coke Pipe" with Fancy Black, and "Nightmare" with

Little John Little John is a companion of Robin Hood who serves as his chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men. He is one of only a handful of consistently named characters who relate to Robin Hood and one of the two oldest Merry Men, alo ...

. In the early 1990s he again worked with Johnson, who also acted as his manager, but a falling-out between the two led Trees to work for other producers. Although he never repeated his earlier popularity, he had some success with "Eye Nah See", "Great Jamaican Jockeys" and "Goodie Goodie". He was less active during the late 1990s, although he recorded "Lik Him But Nuh Kill Him" for Linval Edwards in 1999. After that he was largely silent until he reunited again with Johnson in 2005, recording new songs including "Run di Place Again", "Mother of the Land", and "She Says She Loves Me".Patrick Foster (2005)
General Trees back on the local bus
, ''

Jamaica Observer ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety ...

'', 16 December 2005. A tour of Europe with the Black Scorpio sound system followed in December 2005. He then began working with the Stur-Gav sound system. In late-2019, Trees suffered numerous strokes that has hindered his vocal performance.Loop News (2020),
Rebel Salute 2020: General Trees makes return to stage after stroke
, ''Loop News'', 18 January 2020. (specifically vocal-cord paresis) This is not the only time a medical condition has effected a deejay, such like

Yellowman Winston Foster , better known by the stage name Yellowman, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay, also known as King Yellowman. He first became popular in Jamaica in the 1980s, rising to prominence with a series of singles that established ...

's skin cancer, subsequent surgery and disfigurement of his jaw, and

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

's motorcycle accident causing vocal-cord damage.

Discography

* ''Heart, Mind & Soul'' (1985) * ''Ghost Rider'' (1985), Sunset * ''The Younger Horseman'' (1985), Sunset * ''Negril'' (1986),

* ''Nuff Respect'' (1987), Shanachie * ''Battle Of The Generals'' (1987), King Dragon * ''A Reggae Calypso Encounter'' (1987), Rohit * ''Ragga Ragga Raggamuffin'' (1988), JA * ''Kingstonian Man'' (1988), CSA Records * ''Everything So So'' (1990), World * ''Reggae Calypso Encounter'' (1990), Rohit (

& General Trees)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:General Trees Jamaican dancehall musicians Jamaican reggae musicians Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Living people 1960 births